This year's slate is balanced with quality matchups. Miami, ranked 12th in the preseason poll, will travel to Minnesota and face a Gophers team that is expected to return to the NCAA tournament.

Michigan will play at defending champion North Carolina (ESPN, No. 7) in the teams' first meeting since the 1993 national championship game. Northwestern, which made the NCAA tourney for the first time last season, will play at Georgia Tech. Rick Pitino's Louisville will travel to Purdue to face a Boilermakers squad that returns the majority of its team.

Pittsburgh is the ACC team left out of this year's event, as the conference has one more member than the Big Ten.

Duke has won 16 of 18 matchups in the Challenge, with losses coming to Wisconsin in 2009 and Ohio State in 2011.

The ACC has won the Challenge 11 times, including in 2016, while the Big Ten has five overall victories. The event ended in a tie in 2012 and 2013.